Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) Shares Up 5.9% – Should You Buy?

Certara, Inc. (NASDAQ:CERT) shares traded up 5.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.89 and last traded at $8.85. 760,632 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,699,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CERT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Certara from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Certara from $6.50 to $7.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Certara from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Certara from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their target price on Certara from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.28.

Certara Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of -19.47 and a beta of 1.44.

Certara (NASDAQ:CERT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $93.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.09 million. Certara had a positive return on equity of 3.86% and a negative net margin of 16.75%.Certara’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Certara, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Certara during the 2nd quarter worth about $123,259,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Certara by 28.6% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 17,398,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865,455 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Certara by 2.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,562,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,806,000 after purchasing an additional 175,024 shares in the last quarter. Haveli Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Certara during the second quarter worth approximately $48,470,000,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Certara during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,446,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Certara

Certara is a biosimulation software and services company that partners with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device developers to accelerate drug discovery, development and regulatory approval. The company’s platform integrates quantitative pharmacology, real-world evidence, artificial intelligence and machine learning to model and simulate drug behavior across a range of therapeutic areas and patient populations. By applying these mechanistic and data-driven approaches, Certara helps its clients predict clinical outcomes, optimize dosing strategies and streamline decision-making throughout the product lifecycle.

The company’s offerings are divided into software tools and consulting services.